This commission studies Neanderthal bifacial technologies, and related patterns of techno-typological and chronological variation. The focus is on the role of these industries characterised by bifacial tools, backed bifaces and leaf points throughout the Middle Palaeolithic and across Western Eurasia.

The main aim of this multidisciplinary research is to unravel the characteristics of these bifacial traditions and the emphasis will be on the following research questions:

Why does bifacial tool manufacture reappear with the appearance of Neanderthals?
What is the origin of the Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA), the Keilmessergruppen (KMG) and the leaf point industries?
What are the techno-typological relations between the MTA and other bifacial industries, covering the geographic area from Western Europe to the Volga River and the Caucase?
How are the various raw materials exploited in these bifacial industries?

Conference proceedings will be published in the journal Praehistoria. Overall, this commission and its publications will allow for a better understanding of Neanderthal behaviour and these particular techno-typological traditions for which wider-scale comparative studies are still in an early stage of development.